Divination
Fortune-telling is the practice of predicting the future, usually of an individual, through mystical or supernatural means and often for commercial gain. In Charmed fortune telling has made a number of appearances but most notably in the epsiode "The Eyes Have It". First, Phoebe has her Palm read by a Gypsy named Teresa. After that Lydia and Paige took turns reading each others tea leaves, which tunred out to be quite accurate. In Charmed at least six types of Fortune telling have been seen. Chiromancy The art of characterization and foretelling the future through the study of the palm, also known as palmistry, palm-reading, chirology or hand analysis. This type of fortune telling is shown to still be practiced by Gypsies. Those who practice chiromancy are generally called palmists, palm readers, hand readers, hand analysts, or chirologists. Appears in * The Eyes Have It Tasseography Also known as tasseomancy or tassology is a divination method that interprets patterns in tea leaves and also (in reality) coffee grounds, or wine sediments. Appears in * The Eyes Have It Crystal gazing This form has been seen several times throughout the show. P. Russell was the first to use this and Gideon uses it on ocassion in order to monitor The Charmed Ones and their activities. When Phoebe goes to have her fortune read by Teresa we also see a crystal ball by the Gypsy's side, indicating that she may too have used this form in the past. It is also known as crystallomancy, gastromancy, and spheromancy. According to the show Crystallomancy can be learnt by any witch, warlock or gypsy (and possibly even mortal) who has the "inner eye" or "talent" for it. Appears in * Pardon My Past * The Eyes Have It Tarot Reading The first time this was seen was in the Season Three episode, "All Halliwell's Eve", when the evil witch Ruth used tarot reading to alert Cole that Prue, Piper, and Phoebe had traveled back in time to thwart the plans he had to destroy the Charmed One's family line. Another time Paige is given a new Tarot card set by Phoebe as a gift. She uses them to predict the future about Cole and Phoebe's love life, which is uncannily accurate. Lastly, in the Charmed novel "Gypsy enchantment", Olga a gypsy fortune teller at the Carnival Cavalcade uses Tarot cards to predict that there is great danger for Piper there which is confirmed by a premonition Phoebe later has of Piper being strangled. Appears in * All Halliwell's Eve * Marry-Go-Round * The Gypsy Enchantment Spirit Boards The Charmed Ones have keep their mothers old spirit board that they inherited from their Grams, On the back it is incribed with a short note from their mother and the Power of Three spell. They have frequently used it from the first episode to help guide them. Appears in * Something Wicca This Way Comes The Amazing Phoebe In Dead Man Dating Phoebe takes a job as a hotel psychic, she dubs herself "The Amazing Phoebe" and uses her power of Premonition as a form of fortune telling to earn some money. Fortune Telling vs. Personal Gain In the Dead Man Dating Piper scolds Phoebe for using her powers for Personal Gain whilst posing as "The Amazing Phoebe". Phoebe then tried to rationalize this with the fact that since she was using the money she gained from the business for a present for Prue it wasn't realy Personal Gain. On the other hand, fortune tellers such as Teresa clearly are using their powers to predict the future through such ways as Palmistry for Personal Gain as the money made from it goes to themselves but do not seem to count it as such and has never been pointed out in Charmed. One can deduce from this that as long as one is one does not scam the client and is making an honest living out of it then whilst it is personal gain it is not power abuse and hence has a neutral sway on a witch or gypsy's path towards good or evil. Category:Powers